monitoring and improving workplaceoperations

1.1 how to monitor & improve

workplace operations
continually monitoring and looking for ways to
improve workplace operations can help
anorganization stay on financial track. it can also
help provide specific direction for
employees,which can lead to improved time
management and increased productivity. use care
in oversighttechniques, as some forms of
monitoring, such as cameras and computer
monitoring, may feelintrusive to employees,
resulting in reduced morale
step 1
create specific forms of measurement to help
you determine what level of workplace
operational productivity employees should be
performing at in a given day, week or month. for
example,you may judge productivity on sales
figures, product production or customers served.
step 2
develop a system for monitoring operational
progress on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
youcan use time sheets, flow charts or
departmental progress reports to track statistical
progress.related reading: how to improve integrity
in the workplace
step 3
create an accountability system in which
employees document time usage during a
given time period.
step 4
compare the employee time documentation with
information gathered from your
operationalmonitoring process. if productivity is
under goal or on track, look for instances in
employee timelogs where time is not being used as
effectively as possible and make adjustments to
that
employee‟s schedule or
job description. if operations are running on track
with goals, considerelevating goals by small
increments until you reach a point of equilibrium.
step 5
create an open work environment. replacing office
doors with open seating and semiopencubicles
allows managers to observe and monitor
employees during the workday.
step 6
hire additional staff, if necessary. in some
instances, paying an additional salary can result
inimproved workplace operations that more than
cover hiring costs. for example, if sales agentsare
continually interrupting their day answering
phone calls and making copies of
paperwork,adding an administrative assistant to
the staff can help improve the performance and
morale ofthe entire sales team
Step 7
Invest in new technology that will help streamline
operations and improve productivity. Thiscould
include new computers or equipment related to
your industry or designing more efficientwork
stations and telephone systems. Provide training
for new hires to ensure they are aware ofhow to
effectively perform the functions of their job. If
seasoned employees areunderperforming, send
them for training refresher courses.
Step 8
Motivate employees with production goals and ask
employees and managers what they need
toimprove workplace operations. If suggestions
seem practical and are within budget,
considerimplementing them.
How to Monitor & Improve Workplace Operations
For a business to be successful in the long term, it
has to offer products and services -- atacceptable
prices -- that meet customer needs. It also needs a
process improvement plan so it canimprove its
internal functions continuously to decrease
operational costs and increase
operationalefficiency and employee morale.
Engage Your Employees
Start by creating a workplace environment that
accepts and embraces change. An open-
door policy, fair and respectful treatment and open
communications are some of the most
importantingredients. If you take the time to lay a
foundation that encourages and rewards
employeecontributions before implementing a
monitoring and operational improvement plan, it
will bemuch easier to get the buy-in required to
improve not just workplace operations but your
entire business.
Set Benchmark Goals and Measurements
The "SMART" system uses an acronym to guide
businesses in setting expectations that arespecific,
measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Do
this for each department. Next, define benchmark
criteria to use in monitoring. For example, a goal
for customer service operationsmight be achieving
a 99 percent customer satisfaction rate, a goal for
accounts receivable might be to increase collection
rates by 20 percent within six months and a goal
for your informationtechnology department might
be to fully integrate point-of-sale and inventory
management programs.
An Ongoing Monitoring Plan
Involve every employee in process monitoring.
Managers can conduct service-level reviews,such
as call monitoring and desk-side observations,
analyze reports and dissect currentoperational
processes. Lower-level employees can
conduct quality testing and contributeinformation
about current workflows. Schedule regular private,
department and company-widemeetings to review
results and determine when or if process changes
are necessary.
Implement Operational Process Improvements
A results-oriented improvement plan focuses on
improving cost, quality, service or speed.
Actionsteps range from making minor changes that
eliminate duplicate steps or other workflow
redundancies to scrapping and redesigning
an entire process. A complete redesign
includesanalyzing, prioritizing and reassembling
tasks and operational steps. A complete
processredesign might be necessary when
compliance regulations change or to incorporate
changingtechnologies into your business.
How to Monitor and Improve Workplace
Operations?
The state of art of monitoring is done
when managers silently observes their employees'
computer activities without being on their
shoulder‟s all the time. Continually monitoring
and
tracking the employees PC activities can help the
managers to increase the productivity. Thisallows
manager to keep records of employee
performance, provide the information required
toset performance standards and helps in
the appraisal review process. Network
monitoringsoftware is the best way to track the
amount of time employees spend away from
computer or to
see items which are stored in employees‟
computers. Monitoring software also
help managers to
assign better task, create more effective work
methods, and make better decisions which
improveworkplace operations.Employee
monitoring or business network monitoring
software help managers to protect the
company‟s data from being theft or other harm.
Monitoring employees PC activities allows the
manager to evaluate overall productivity levels and
identify theft problems that need to besolved. At
last employers need to think for their business
first, analyzes the consequences ofevery decisions
or action which needs to be opted to get better
productivity.
1.2 Overview of Monitoring and
Evaluation Work Plans
The Monitoring and Evaluation Work Plan is a
flexible guide to the steps you can use todocument
project activities, answer evaluation questions,
and show progress toward project goalsand
objectives.As a guide, the Work Plan explains the
goals and objectives of the overall plan as well as
theevaluation questions, methodologies,
implementation plan, matrix of expected results,
proposedtimeline, and the instruments for
gathering data.To ensure that activities produce
useful results, it is essential that you incorporate in
the programdesign stage. Planning an intervention
and designing a strategy are inseparable activities.
Toensure the relevance and sustainability of
activities, project designers must collaborate
withstakeholders and donors to develop an
integrated and comprehensive plan.Projects at all
levels, whether single interventions or multiple
integrated projects, should have an
plan in place to assess the project‟s progress
toward achieving its goals and objectiv
es and toinform key stakeholders and program
designers about results. Such plans will guide the
design ofmonitoring and evaluation; highlight
what information remains to be collected and how
best tocollect it, and suggest how to use the results
to achieve greater effectiveness
and efficiency.Comprehensive plans should
describe the overall goals and objectives of the
country program